Splitboarding: A Female Perspective
Getting into a sport in general can be intimidating, when you add in barriers like being a female, low income, LGBTQ, BIPOC, to a sport that has a strong presence of affluent white males can seem unapproachable. Especially one that is physically demanding where you build your skills through failures and learning through those experiences. As a person who identifies as female that came from a low income upbringing I can still say that strapping on my snowboard or splitboard is a bit uncomfortable at times in new locations or with new people. The more you engage with something that is uncomfortable you begin to build tolerance and coping mechanisms when you continue to put yourself in these environments.
My mechanisms are to:
Have fun
Learn from others
Challenge yourself
Care less about what others think
Do it for you
I started snowboarding in 3rd grade with a school program that went to the mountain every Friday. I picked snowboarding because some of my closest friends in school were boys. I never thought about how I was the only girl in the snowboard group. I just thought about how I wanted to be with my friends. My parents were dairy farmers so we didn't have too much money to spend on extras. On the mountain I looked like your typical kook. I had hand me downs from cousins. Equipment that was ancient, but I was out there. I maybe didn't fit in with all the Ski resort guests however when you're young and naive these details don't bother you as much.
“This pushed my abilities and progression further and built my confidence as a female snowboarder.”
Fast forward to highschool, image is a bit more important. I had my first Job, I saved all my tip money in the summer and went to the Burton Summer Sale. That was the only way at the time that I could afford gear and now that I had been snowboarding for a bit longer, gear made a difference in riding. I worked at the mountain to afford a pass. This is when my hobby became a lifestyle.
I continued with this through college. In College I finally felt ready to pass on my skills of snowboarding. I became an instructor. Not only did I instruct, but I also pursued my athletic abilities in the sport and started competing on the UVM snowboard Freestyle team. This pushed my abilities and progression further and built my confidence as a female snowboarder.
I like to consider myself a jack of all trades, so when I started seeing splitboarding on my [social media] feed I had to try it.
Splitboarding, like snowboarding, is expensive. This is one of the first barriers that can create feelings of exclusion. For my first splitboard session I was in college, and there was no way I could afford splitboarding gear. As an alternative, because I was new to it and wanted to make sure I liked it before spending the money, I demoed gear. I've also borrowed gear like poles etc. Then when I had a couple sessions under my belt, graduated college and had my (big girl job) I made it a Birthday, Christmas gift and was able to get an industry discount. At the end of the day it's about what you have, if I didn’t have an industry discount I probably would have bought a set up second hand.
“Get embarrassed or laugh at the situation. I chose a deep belly laugh. I would rather have these moments of learning be moments of enjoyment not moments of feeling bad about a mistake that was easily fixable and a learning experience.”
There are two types of learners in the world: the people that learn by reading, listening and the ones that learn from doing. I'm a kinesthetic learner. I like to learn through doing things.
My first split experience the first few slides uphill were followed by two slides back. In my mind, I was like dang this is hard. That's when my friend Christopher who had a handful or splitboard sessions suggested that my skins may be on backwards.Sure enough he was right. So what now? Get embarrassed or laugh at the situation. I chose a deep belly laugh. I would rather have these moments of learning be moments of enjoyment not moments of feeling bad about a mistake that was easily fixable and a learning experience.
“The bottom line is if you work for it you can get to the level and places you want.”
Lastly, the outdoors is for everyone. For safety reasons there are some skills and areas to start at. You need to be able to confidently link turns and navigate wooded/ungroomed terrain to explore Backcountry. Fear not if you still want to get into splitboarding you can go after hours at resorts just make sure you check their uphill policies and bring a headlamp! One thing I learned from splitboarding that I wish I knew prior is the basics of how the set up works board, bindings, skins and poles, it would have made it a much smoother start. The bottom line is if you work for it you can get to the level and places you want. Dont let your sex, race, income stop you. These factors are just hurdles that you learn to overcome that create who you are in your riding.
My suggestion is to demo gear. Some local places you can demo are OGE, and RanchCamp, go with close friends you feel comfortable with, ask questions and go on a short excursion to start. Get a feel for the equipment, don't have too high of expectations and most importantly, laugh about it and have fun. You will most likely fall and stumble, but this is all part of learning.
Splitboarding will open so many more opportunities for terrain and exploring the world outside of a ski resort. Personally It's given me a space to focus on the roots of snowboarding, turning, powder, trees and sharing it with friends, and family (including pups!). My first real session was filled with deep lines, lots of “yews!” and face shots and it was all because I stepped outside of my comfort zone, and kept pushing myself. If you are a female and interested, I am off the books trying to get a socially distanced ladies crew after hours at resorts going on monday or if you just have questions that you would feel more comfortable asking a female don’t hesitate to DM me on insta @sweet___adventures or email me vt.sweetd@gmail.com
- cheers -
Dani